Howdy. Righto, from Hanoi I headed south to Hoi An. Its just one big tailor shop really....with a couple of sights (Marble Mountains and the Cham ruins) and a beach thrown in for good measure. Probably spent too long here, but in no hurry so not to worry. Hired a motorbike for a day to do the sights, started well but had two blowouts and got myself royally lost.....didn't end well. Not sure how I got lost but I was miles wrong....had to go village to village asking "Hoi An...Hoi An", they all seemed to begin their helpfull response with a "he's fucked" kind of look on their faces. A 45 min ride took nearly 3 hours. The second blowout was no where near a repair shop so I just left the bike where it was, ... read more

Howdy. When you see a "Made in China" label it usually refers to Guangzhou.....this place is the manufacturers mecca, and a 3 week trade fair was in full swing while I was there. So most of the people I met were there on business......still good laugh though beering it up with a Colombian, Mexican and a Frenchy. Really not much to see there so might only throw a few pictures in this entry for the sake of it. Apart from the city itself, there isn't much to look at in Hong Kong either, so only stayed there a couple of nights. Can be hard at times to tell if its night or day on some streets around Wan Chai. Took the Peak Train up into the heavens for a spectacular view of the place......smog wasn't too ... read more

Afternoon all, Thought I'd start with a quick "camera" update. Number 3 still performing solidly, though Numbnuts here managed to clear the memory card, deleting every photo......nice one Shano. Having said that, I'm trying to get a few photos from a mate I was travelling with through Datong (hanging temple, cave carvings) and Pingyao (a village where time stopped 150 years ago) so all may not be lost. So, lets skip those places for the time being and move onto Xi'an. The only reason people really come to Xi'an is to see the Terracotta Soldiers that are about 30km's out of town (2hours in peak hour....nuts). Pretty bloody spectacular is the best way to describe them....and I should know, I went around the place twice thanks to my photo deleting shenanigans. Its a bit of a ... read more

Righto, jumped on the fairly packed train in Irkutsk at 21:50 Wednesday night, but by the time I woke the next morning there was me and only 2 others on the entire wagon. All the Russians jumped off at Ulan Ude which I think is the last main stop before you hit Mongolia. Thursday will not go down in the books as a day to remember.....5 hours at the Russian border control, 1 hour crossing the actual border then 2 hours at the Mongolian border control......Travelled about 1 mile in 8 hours, which is now included in the "Shane's book o' stuff" as the new definition of boredom. Rolled into the capital of Mongolia (Ulaan Baatar) at 6:10 the next morning. Think I may have made a bit of a mistake in that I'm only staying ... read more

So......I left Moscow on March 30th headed for Yeketerinburg. Back on the trans-siberian train, this one number 26. Wasn't going to be as plush as the last (number 1)....they get worse the higher the number. Another overnighter, got on at 16:20 and arrived next day 18:58 Moscow time (20:58 local). The roomies this time weren't as cheery as the drunken army fellas from the last train. They were a 70 year old couple with 3 and a half tonne of luggage. Sweet couple, I only had to scream "SHUT THE FCUP I'M TRYING TO SLEEP" once.......what is it with oldies and 5am starts. Maybe me dad can answer that.......dad? Anyhoo, back to Yeketeringburg (or ekaterinburg.....depending which sign you're looking at). This place got its name because of one of the the "greats"....Peter the Great got St ... read more